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Probe Finds 'Serious and Pressing' Violations at Foxconn iPlants

Staff members work on the production line at the Foxconn complex in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. Photo: Kin Cheung/AP

Kin Cheung

A monthlong investigation of Foxconn, the extensive factory network that makes Apple products in China, uncovered "serious and pressing" violations of labor standards and Chinese workplace law, according to a detailed report by the Fair Labor Association released Thursday.

Auditors found over 50 violations (.pdf) of FLA standards or Chinese law at the factories, ranging from safety hazards like blocked exits to improper overtime compensation.

"During peak production, the average number of hours worked per week at Foxconn factories exceeded both the FLA Code standard and Chinese legal limits," reads the report. "This was true in all three factories. Further, there were periods during which some employees worked more than seven days in a row without the required minimum 24-hour break."

In response to the findings, Foxconn has agreed to bring its factories into complete compliance with Chinese labor laws as well as FLA's standards on worker hours by July of 2013. In order to help accomplish this, Foxconn has promised to hire thousands of new employees. The factory also vowed to improve safety conditions and housing quality for its workers, and establish a compensation package that protects workers from lost income resulting from less overtime.

"This FLA agreement with Foxconn will safeguard the health and welfare of the company's employees by bringing their work conditions into compliance with basic human rights standards," Human Rights First's Meg Roggensack said in a press release. "The key to the report's success, however, will be implementation of this agreement."

The FLA visited three factories in China, interviewed hundreds of workers, and conducted over 35,000 anonymous surveys to gain insight into the conditions inside these plants. Foxconn also supplies products to other well-known companies like Dell, HP and Amazon.

Foxconn employs 1.2 million workers. Sixty-four percent of those surveyed said that their current compensation didn't meet their basic needs, and over 43 percent of workers either experienced or witnessed an onsite accident.

In response to growing concerns about the labor practices at Foxconn, Apple in February became the first tech company to join the ranks of the Fair Labor Association, an auditing group that tries to ensure standard living and working conditions are met in factories worldwide. Inspections began in Foxconn city, and initial reports of conditions within the plants were found to be better than at other factories. Since the audits began, Foxconn has already raised wages of workers once.

Apple has regularly audited its supplier factories since 2006, but after blockbuster sales and earnings in 2011 and a damning report from The New York Times on Apple's overseas factory conditions, the company came under extra scrutiny. A number of Apple users and fans have since petitioned and protested at Apple Stores worldwide in hopes that Apple would change the status quo.

Both Foxconn and Apple have agreed to implement the FLA's suggestions, and Foxconn has specific milestones it aims to meet as it reaches its goal of full compliance by 2013.

For the entire FLA report (available as a series of PDFs), visit here.

Employment function scores at three Foxconn factories. A perfect score means an area is fully compliant with FLA standards. Image: FLA